Porto slam Sporting, Benfica: Referees favoured rivals again | OneFootball

After VAR disallowed Famalicão’s goal at Alvalade, FC Porto directed harsh criticism at Sporting, sparing neither coach Rui Borges nor president Frederico Varandas. In the Dragões Diário newsletter, the club accuses their Segunda Circular rival of controlling the entire refereeing universe.

“With another round of the championship completed, FC Porto remains ahead of an opponent who, by decree, is forbidden from dropping points. The team most benefited by the unfortunate mistakes of referees was once again carried along against FC Famalicão—once again harmed against Sporting, after the forgiven sending-off of Gonçalo Inácio in the first-round match. Unlike what happened in the Azores, when Rui Borges, still stuck in the last century, didn’t know how to work with new technologies, this time the Sporting coach learned quickly and resorted to the tablet placed in front of his eyes to review the images and defend the existence of a ‘clear foul’ on Maxi Araújo. On the eve of the match between Sporting and FC Famalicão, the Technical Director of Nacional Refereeing had shared a statement from the president of UEFA’s Refereeing Committee on his social networks. Roberto Rosetti’s intervention is clear: ‘I think we have forgotten the reason why VAR was introduced. Eight years ago, I went to London to discuss the meaning of VAR and we talked about clear and obvious errors. The technology works very well for factual decisions. For interpretations, subjective evaluation is more difficult (…) We cannot continue down this path of microscopic VAR interventions. When you watch an incident in super slow motion, you always find something.’ It could seem like a joke, but it’s not.”

“It seems that someone is in charge of refereeing in Portugal and it’s clearly not the officials, in a sports season marked by unfortunate incidents always favoring the same teams. The only reason for VAR’s intervention in the clean goal by FC Famalicão may be related to a famous fall in the area by Morten Hjulmand, after feeling a finger touch his face, to win a penalty in the Azores. From then on, Portuguese football set the standard for VAR interventions and, thus, the day before yesterday a foul was called before the clean goal by FC Famalicão. In light of this, it seems almost absurd to note a case that slipped past VAR last week. In yet another unfortunate incident favoring the same teams, a Sporting player violently kicked another player in the head. No, we’re not talking about Matheus Reis, the ball boy intimidator, we’re talking about another one. From the simulation in the Azores to the assault on the AFS player, it’s shocking the impunity enjoyed weekly before referees to vehemently argue every single incident in the game.”

“If it weren’t for FC Porto’s intervention, the Disciplinary Council was preparing to turn a blind eye to the incident in question. In truth, the images seem to mysteriously disappear, including those from the referees’ revolutionary bodycams—the ex-libris of transparency, according to the President of the Refereeing Council. Meanwhile, the usual acquittals of Frederico Varandas continue, a figure unaccountable in the eyes of the Disciplinary Council (and any court), after insulting the President of the Portuguese Football Federation as a minor figure in refereeing at the service of other presidents in the past. In this specific case, it seems that crime pays, because from mapping the club colors of the FPF’s governing bodies, to placing pawns on the Non-Permanent Refereeing Committees and accumulating rhetoric about refereeing, the truth is that, since the famous remark after the match in Guimarães, Sporting has accumulated incidents that will surely appear on the list of errors not to be repeated, so that in the future refereeing will be better. None of this is surprising, just as the complicit silence on the other side of the Segunda Circular—which calls for even more penalties—in this Holy Alliance that aims to try to bring down FC Porto by any means, is not surprising. FC Porto remains focused and united and, in a traditionally difficult stadium, achieved its 19th win in 22 rounds with a precise header from Jan Bednarek after a cross from Gabri Veiga. The Club’s supporters traveled in great numbers to Madeira, on a day of great emotion for the entire Porto family, and celebrated the victory in memory of Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa on the first anniversary of his passing. Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa left us many lessons and many warnings for the challenges ahead. On and off the field.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.